I'm jumping on board in support of Cassandra. When I first saw her I thought, pretty girl but nothing special. And pageants.yuck. The way she looked, I could see her on the arm of the quarterback from Texas State or tooling around town in a red convertible with her hair billowing behind her. Yeah, she's a little prissy, but what model-wanna-be doesn't have an annoying trait? She wasn't my favorite, but definitely ranked in upper half. After the makeover show? I put her on the top of my list. When Tyra announced what they were doing to her, my heart bounced to my throat. I couldn't figure out if Tyra sees huge potential and wants to uncover it or if she just hates her and wants to see her bleed. It seemed incredible cruel, especially as so many girls were getting very long extensions. Under the circumstances, I think Cassandra handled herself incredibly well. It's one thing to decide to chop off your long hair -- it's another completely to have someone make that decision for you. (If the world was balanced, Kim would have been given a bleached-blond Lady Godiva mane to deal with and told to act girly.) I expected Cassandra would wind up looking ridiculous, but WOW! I was blown away by the reveal. Someone here pointed out how it emphasizes her gorgeous lips and bone structure. She's absolutely stunning with short hair. Now I can now picture her in black leather with a gorgeous Colin Farrel bad-boy type and driving a motorcycle. I hope she figures out how to work with her new look. She could win this thing if she does. Unfortunately, I doubt she will. I've heard rumblings she goes home soon. No official spoilers, just posters elsewhere with very confident opinions.

And about her preferring pageantry to modeling? I think she was bluffing in fear of being booted because of her crying spell. The snippet I saw on the UPN “extra clip” video showed a tender moment while on the phone with her boyfriend (who is totally into her new look and disappointed she got so upset) where she makes mention of knowing she tested the judges’ patience with her.

Ounce again Tyra nailed it. Cassandra went from ho.. hum.. to Yumm! The cut, and dye was exactly the right thing to do for Cassandra on many levels. There is a lot more to Cassandra than she knows. It seems Tyra is trying to show it to her, and set her free. Cassandra really is beautiful. You can see that clearly now.